Many games include a set of dice to generate random numbers. The random numbers are then used to determine the next play. Many games of chance, such as Craps, use dice to determine a win or loss of money or chips. Ideally the dice are shaken in the player's hand, or in a special cup, and thrown on a felt surface against a wall. The felt surface helps to ensure that the dice will be caught by the surface and tumble rather than slide. The impact against the wall adds a further spin to the dice, thus adding to the randomizing process. In practice not all of these conditions are always met, but dice still provide a reasonably good method of providing a random number. Other methods of generating random numbers exist such as computers, wheels with pointers, etc.; but none are as simple and inexpensive as dice which can be carried in the pocket or purse and used almost anywhere.
Conventional dice consist of a small cube of plastic with the six sides successively numbered from one to six. The numbering of the sides usually takes the form of black, white or colored dots embossed in sides of the dice; but sometimes arabic number characters are used. In professional dice used at gambling tables, great pains are taken to ensure that the dice are balanced so as to have an exactly equal chance of rolling any of the six numbers.
The problem with conventional dice is that the numbers they generate are limited to multiples of six; i.e. one die can be thrown to generate the numbers from one to six, two dice can be thrown to generate the numbers one to twelve, etc. Consequently, it would be awkward to use conventional dice to generate random numbers from zero to nine, or from 0 to 99, or for higher numbers of decimal digits. Most board games, like Monopoly, avoid this problem by designing their games to use the roll of two dice to generate the numbers from 1 to 12.
This limitation of conventional dice eliminates the possibility of designing more sophisticated games that take the advantage of being able to generate random decimal numbers. For example, our money system is based on the decimal number system; the inventors have recognized that dice capable of generating decimal numbers could directly specify the amount of a bet in a game of chance, or in a board game. Games could be devised which use decimal dice to specify the price of stocks, properties, or other gaming objects in a board game.
The inventors have further recognized that there is a need for dice that would provide a means for generating random lottery numbers. Lotteries usually require the players to select several numbers between one and some upper limit number; for example, Virginia Pick 6 Lotto players must pick six numbers between 1 and 44, the Ohio Super Lotto requires players to pick six numbers between 1 and 47. Dice able to generate decimal numbers could be used to play any of these lotteries. These decimal dice would be thrown for each required number; numbers that are out of range or repeated would simply be thrown out and a new roll would be made until a valid number was thrown. Lottery numbers can of course be chosen by a wide variety of methods; in fact, most numbers are probably chosen out of the players head, such as the selection of numbers of important dates or from numbers encountered in daily experience. But numbers chosen from one's head lack a random quality, and the same numbers get played over and over again with no results. Random numbers chosen by the lottery computer fail to give the player a sense of control over the process of playing the game. Other mechanical methods of choosing random numbers are generally awkward, and most of them are not very portable. Dice on the other hand can be carried in one's pocket or purse and played anywhere. Moreover, dice also give players a direct feeling of control.
Different types of dice that attempt to improve upon conventional dice may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. Des. 283,632 to Moore and 809,293 to Friedenthal which comprise ten faces with a number printed on each face. Although these die include more numbers and faces than conventional die, the designs and ability to create random numbers is still limited.
An improvement on the above-noted designs may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,208,754 to Sieve and 4,497,487 to Crippen which disclose icosahedron die having a plurality of numbers printed thereon. The Sieve design has a single digit printed on each face and is numbered from 1 to 20. The Crippen design includes two icosahedron dice with one die having numbers representing ten (10) odd numbers and ten (10) even numbers from 1 to 40 and the other die having numbers representing the remaining twenty (20) numbers from 1 to 40. The above dice patterns, however, are still limited in the variety of applications in which they may be used due to the numbering patterns and color schemes.
Further dice found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,735,419 to Koca, 4,892,319 to H Johnson II and 5,224,708 to Gathman also disclose various patterns of indicia printed on the faces of an icosahedron shaped dice. These pattern are similarly limited in application as those discussed above. In particular, the Koca and Johnson II dice are designed for use with a word game. The Gathman dice have playing card designed printed thereon and thus, are limited to a gambling application.
In view of the foregoing, the inventor have recognized a need for dice that are able to generate decimal numbers, such that, a user could produce a wide range of random numbers for a myriad of applications. In addition there is a need for an improved dice having a numbering system based on the number ten to provide a greater variety of generated random numbers.